GOOD CAUSE: National Organising Week – September 8-14

This week marks the second year of the National Organising Week, promoting the work of members from the Australasian Association of Professional Organisers in both New Zealand and Australia. (Definitely giving us a whole new meaning to the words “spring cleaning”.) The week is being launched by the Australian “Decluttering Guru”, Peter Walsh, a regular on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

So how organized and well managed are you? Are your skills in organizing both time and cost effective. Are you a hoarder? Why are we collecting more stuff? Statistics show that 88% of homes in Australia have at least one room full of trash/treasure and the average home has at least three rooms in disarray.

According to Sarah Cottman from the decluttering company Heavenly Order, people are hoarding because we are becoming more and more isolated in our communities and we try to fill that empty feeling with stuff – tonnes and tonnes of it. One of the ways we try to prevent this feeling of isolation is by keeping things that have been passed on to us by family and friends. Understandably we want to cling to as much as we can so that memories aren’t lost.

Not all hoarders are the same. Have you ever been guilty of the “I may need this one day” category? How many of us have the fondue pot, knowing that the day we have a fondue party, it will be a fantastic party. The other type of hoarder is the person who buys product, but investing in a promise. Can you relate to this story? You buy a treadmill and you believe this piece of equipment will magically make you fit and healthy. Our homes are filling up with products and our lives are full of unfulfilled promises.

There are a number of Professional Organisers now able to help us de-clutter. Professional Organisers work similar to a Personal Trainer. Working with you side by side, they teach you how to be better organized. According to the experts, once you start to declutter it becomes contagious!